Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Wednesday that the government was dealing an extra financial blow to the Palestinian Authority (PA) due to its direct support of terrorism.

“For the first time ever, I signed a double offset of terror money that the PA transfers to terrorists’ families,” he said. “We have deducted 100 million shekels instead of 50 million up until now.”

“Furthermore,” Smotrich added, “we deducted an additional NIS 200,000 that will be transferred as compensation to the families of terror victims, in accordance with the court’s ruling. The PA funds terrorists, but now the State of Israel is saying: enough is enough. The citizens of Israel will not be part of this farce.”

According to 2018’s so-called “Pay for Slay” law, the government is supposed to withhold an amount of tax money it collects for the PA from Palestinian workers in Israel that is equal to the financial support the Authority provides to jailed terrorists and the families of those killed in attempted or actual attacks.

The PA pays hundreds of millions of shekels each year on a sliding scale, with those committing the most heinous crimes receiving the highest salaries. The PA consistently vows that it will never stop the payments no matter what Israel does, even though the tax revenue is a vast part of its budget.

Image - Flash90/Yonatan Sindel